Helmet pads

ABSTRACT

A head covering or helmet pads are removably attached to the outer surface of an existing sport&#39;s helmet. The pads are constructed to conform to the contours of the outer surface of the helmet. The pads are made from layers of thermoplastic material structured to absorb both shock and acoustic waves that may cause concussive type injuries. The thermoplastic may be an open-cell foam material selected from the group consisting of neoprene, polyethylene, silicon, urethane, silicon/urethane blend.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. utility applicationSer. No. 13/854,893, filed Apr. 1, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,826,468,wherein such application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/638,922, filed Apr. 26, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to protective sportswear, andparticularly to supplemental external helmet pads for a sports helmet.

2. Description of the Related Art

Protecting athletes from disabling injury has long been a primary focusfor practitioners in the field of sports medicine and manufacturers ofprotective sportswear. The prevention of concussion injuries has beenespecially a target of discussion in view of recent findings regardingthe long-term effects of such injuries. Athletes participating insports, such as football, hockey, cycling, baseball, etc., whetherprofessional or amateur, typically are required to wear helmets forprotection in violent collisions or blows to the head. Waves (shock andacoustic) propagated by the aforementioned collisions and blows arethought to cause stress to the brain that may consequently produceconcussions. Heretofore, helmets have been designed to protect theathlete from the effects of shock waves. No attention has been given tothe effect of acoustic waves as a causative factor in concussiveinjuries. The need for a protective system that could be applied toexisting helmet structure and that would be effective to absorb bothshock and acoustic waves would be accepted eagerly in the art. Thus,helmet pads solving the aforementioned problem are desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is drawn to helmet pads that are removablyattached to the outer surface of an existing helmet. The pads areconstructed to conform to the contours of the outer surface of thehelmet. The pads are structured to absorb both shock and acoustic waves.Each pad is constructed of layers of different thermoplastic foammaterials, and includes layers designed to collapse to help absorb shockwaves and acoustic waves that might otherwise produce head injuriesresulting in stress to the brain.

Accordingly, the invention presents protective pads that can be quicklyand easily attached to the outer surface of a conventional sportshelmet. The pads provide supplemental protection against impacts thatmay cause concussive type injuries. The invention provides for improvedelements thereof in an arrangement for the purposes described that areinexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing theirintended purposes.

These and other features of the present invention will become readilyapparent upon further review of the following specification anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of helmet pads according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view of helmet pads accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an end view, in section, of a helmet pad according to thepresent invention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistentlythroughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, the helmet pads 10 include a toppad 11 and two side pads 13. The pads are adapted to be removablyattached to the outer surfaces 12 of a conventional sports helmet 14.This arrangement permits the pads to be instantly adaptable to existingsport helmets without modification of the helmet structure. As indicatedabove, the pads 10 are designed to conform to the contours of the helmet14 and may be configured in various patterns to cover the entireexterior surface of the helmet 14. Although, as illustrated, the helmet14 is generally of the type used in football, it should be recognizedthat the pads 10 may be designed for any type (lacrosse, skating,cycling, etc.) of sports helmet. As presently contemplated, the padswill have a thickness ranging from 0.040 to 0.050 inches depending onthe type of sport for which they are used.

As best seen in FIG. 3, each pad 10 is encased in a shell or outer layer16 having a base 16 a. The shell is fabricated from a suitable material,such as a silicon closed cell sponge, that would permit the shell to bepainted or designed with school or team logos and/or colors, if desired.Alternatively, the shell or outer layer 16 may also be fabricated fromother suitable materials of open cell construction, such as neoprene,polyethylene, silicon, urethane, silicon/urethane blend or the like. Anexample of a urethane open cell foam is PORON® or PORON® XRD®, an opencell urethane foam material produced by Rogers Corporation, Rogers,Conn. 06263. An outer layer of polypropylene or the like 18 ispositioned immediately below the shell 16. First and second crumplezones are defined at 20 and 22. The crumple zones 20 and 22 arefabricated from polyvinyl chloride, or other suitable material that isextruded into a honeycombed configuration having alternating invertedV-shaped structures 24 encapsulated therein, the vertex of the V-shapedstructures being formed as thick fingers 24 a extending in oppositedirections and thin, angled legs 24 b, joining each finger to the next.The thin legs are engineered to fracture or crumple upon impactexceeding a predetermined threshold of force. The V-shaped structures 24are fabricated from high-density polyethylene or the like, and arealigned against each other to create a folding zone when impacted. Thecrumple zones 20 and 22 create a stable platform that will absorb animpact equal to 250 lbs. of kinetic momentum before crumpling. Lesserimpacts will produce no crumpling. A layer of high-density foam material26, e.g., polyurethane, is disposed below and adjacent to the crumplezone 22 to absorb acoustical shock waves and limit exposure thereof tothe helmet. Reference character 28 indicates an adhesive layer that isdisposed along the exterior surface of the base of the pad 10, wherebythe pad may be easily attached to the surface of the helmet 14. Theadhesive layer 28 may be covered with conventional, removable releasepaper (not shown) when the pad 10 is not in use. It is furthercontemplated that the open cell materials, such as neoprene,polyethylene, silicon, urethane, silicon/urethane blend, may be used forany or all of the aforementioned polymers; that is, polypropylene,polyvinyl chloride, high-density polyethylene or closed cell silicon orurethane.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to theembodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodimentswithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:
 1. A protective head covering, comprising: a central core, thecentral core including a honeycombed configuration having shock waveabsorbing structure encapsulated therein, the central core beingfabricated from polyvinyl chloride material extruded into a honeycombedconfiguration wherein the honeycombed configuration includes a pluralityof alternating inverted V-shaped structures having vertices in the formof thick fingers extending in opposite directions and further includingthin, angled legs joining each of the fingers to the next adjacentfinger; an inner layer disposed on one side of the central core, theinner layer being fabricated from a material for absorbing acousticwaves produced by the impacts on the helmet , the inner layer beingfabricated from polyurethane foam material; an outer layer disposed on aside of the central core opposite the inner layer, the central corebeing sandwiched between the inner layer and the outer layer, the outerlayer being fabricated from polypropylene material; and a shell encasingthe central core, the inner layer and the outer layer therein, the shellbeing fabricated from open-cell foam material and having a base abuttingthe inner layer of foam material.
 2. The head covering according toclaim 1, wherein said honeycombed configuration is fabricated fromhigh-density polyethylene material.
 3. The head covering according toclaim 1, wherein said shell is fabricated from a silicon/urethane blendof open-cell foam material.
 4. The head covering according to claim 1,wherein said shell is fabricated from an open-cell urethane foammaterial.
 5. The head covering according to claim 1, wherein said shellis fabricated from an open-cell foam material selected from the groupconsisting of neoprene, polyethylene, silicon, urethane,silicon/urethane blend.
 6. A head covering, comprising: a central core,the central core including a honeycombed configuration having shock waveabsorbing structure encapsulated therein, wherein the honeycombedconfiguration includes a plurality of alternating inverted V-shapedstructures having vertices in the form of fingers extending in oppositedirections and further including angled legs joining each of the fingersto the next adjacent finger, wherein the thickness of the fingers isgreater than the thickness of the angled legs; an inner layer disposedon one side of the central core, the inner layer being fabricated from amaterial for absorbing acoustic waves produced by the impacts on thehelmet; an outer layer disposed on a side of the central core oppositethe inner layer, the central core being sandwiched between the innerlayer and the outer layer; and a shell encasing the central core, theinner layer and the outer layer therein, the shell being fabricated fromopen-cell foam material and having a base abutting the inner layer ofmaterial.
 7. The head covering according to claim 6, wherein each of thecentral core, inner layer, outer layer, and shell is fabricated from anopen-cell foam material selected from the group consisting of neoprene,polyethylene, silicon, urethane, silicon/urethane blend.
 8. The headcovering according to claim 6, wherein said open-cell foam material isurethane.
 9. The head covering according to claim 6, wherein saidopen-cell foam material is a silicon/urethane blend.